And a Dash of Delight
by majesticllamas
Summary: Arthur fails at making Valentine's day cookies for Francis and feels terrible. Francis is flattered and makes some more. They spend the afternoon decorating the cookies with little hearts. Fluff, some language...


The recipe had called for one egg, a package of typical looking cookie-mix, and water. Though these certainly would not be the best thing to create for someone special, it was probably the only thing that Arthur could conjure without making something explode in the process.

Arthur, a delicate man on the inside with a rather fierce outside nature, was not the best at baking, nor could he follow the simplest steps of a recipe. He always felt that it needed something a little more—something to add a wee English touch to whatever he was creating. This usually was something grotesque to the dish, perhaps a little sausage here and there. That would be his not-so-secret ingredient today.

He hummed languidly, thinking of how delicious these cookies would turn out to be. The box had said that they were guaranteed to be scrumptious, and Arthur would settle for no less. His mind wandered to the person for whom he was stepping out of his comfort circle to bake for, this man that had recently professed his attraction towards Arthur in a rather conspicuous way…

His name was Francis. Yes, _he._ Arthur was not altogether comfortable with being labeled as a "fag," but he would take that any day just to have Francis be with him. Arthur stirred the ingredients, plus some, dreamily as his mind drifted towards golden locks that spiraled down and down, a never ending staircase of silky lusciousness. Blue eyes twinkling into his own, a deep breath made Arthur shiver slightly. Francis was perfect—too perfect for a dull and static character like Arthur, so he thought to himself daily.

The mixture was stirred to perfection, according to Arthur, and he dolloped teaspoon sized clumps of dough onto the cookie sheet. He gently slid the sheet into the oven, hopes high. He sighed and turned the ringing timer for ten minutes.

Arthur shrugged off the stereotypical wife's apron that Francis had purchased, grumbling to himself at how he may have just been seen in pink frills. He sat down and sighed happily, anxious to test out one of the cookies. His thoughts obviously loomed to what he may be rewarded with from Francis for such an act of kindness.

A few minutes passed with Arthur blushing away, when a pungent odor began to arise. It struck Arthur's nose full force and he gagged a little. He got up swiftly to check on the cookies which had been in the oven for nearly the full ten minutes now. As the cookies were swiftly pulled from the oven with smoke dully rising from them, Arthur choked out a small sob of defeat. The cookies he had worked so hard on were a hideous shade of brown, the sausage bits mixing with the other ingredients and changing the overall pigment.

Arthur sullenly scooped off one singular cookie and set it down gently on the countertop. He waited a few minutes while breathing heavily, tears looming in his eyes solemn green eyes. Once the treat was moderately cooled off, Arthur closed his eyes and took an unwilling bite.

He instantly regretted it, and was thrust into a fit of despair and anger at the horrible taste and smell. He opened the back door, located in the bright yellow kitchen, and flung the things out of the door with a roar of agitation.

Arthur sat down in his same chair, a single tear indolently rolling down his cheek as he succumbed to laying his head down in defeat.

What Arthur did not know was that Francis had entered the house through the front door, encumbered with stereotypical chocolates and ten long-stemmed red roses. Francis had seen the end of Arthur's little scene, watching painfully as his lover dropped his head into his own frail arms. He rushed hastily into their little kitchen, threw his goods on the table, and wrapped Arthur in his arms.

"What is wrong, Arthur? What has happened?" the concern in Francis's voice was gushing as Arthur quietly lifted his tearstained eyes to meet those of the blue-eyed angel he'd fallen in love with.

"I… I tried to bake you something. You know, just for you. For Valentine's Day. And…I failed miserably." Arthur's voice was more embarrassed than sad.

Francis's face lit up as he gasped and turned Arthur around swiftly. "_You would really do that for me?_" The smile on his face easily resembled the sun shining brightly on the most beautiful of days, according to Arthur.

"W-what do you mean?" a blush was present on Arthur's usually pale face as he looked down. "Of course I would. I…I do love you, after all."

Francis let out a small squeal of delight as he leaned forward jubilantly and caught the other man's lips in a passionate and tender kiss, his mind racing with ecstatic thoughts of overly clichéd loving things to do. He remembered then that Arthur was saddened by his shortcoming. He broke the kiss gently and whispered into the other's ear, "Say, how about we try those baked goods once more, together this time?"

Arthur was breathing heavily but managed to let out a casual sounding, "Okay," with his hands still gripping Francis's face fiercely.

Francis snickered and then winked very nonchalantly. "Well, in that case, _cher_, you might want to let go of me for a moment so we can do this properly."

"What if I don't want to do it properly?"  
This time Francis let out a belt of uproarious laughter, his deep voice making Arthur's whole body vibrate.

The recipe had called for one egg, a package of typical looking cookie-mix, and water. Francis groaned when Arthur pulled out the same type of cookie mix that he had used before. Francis didn't see the point in using premade ingredients, but he went with what Arthur wanted.

After putting the dolloped dough into the oven, Francis wound the timer back up for ten minutes and sat down next to Arthur, who was diligently eating the chocolates that Francis had bought for him. Francis smiled at him as he downed the sweets.

Arthur looked up after quite a few minutes of silence and said with his mouth full, "Just what the hell do you think you're looking at?"

"You," Francis said plainly. "You're too adorable, can't you tell? You're perfect."

The one essentially binging down the chocolates looked away with red blotches becoming clear on his face. "Go check on the cookies, you idiot…"

Francis complied with a grin.

"Goodness. Arthur, I think they're done already. This god damned cheap stuff…"

Arthur stood, chocolate sticking to the inner corners of his mouth. "Do we get to decorate now?" He was surprisingly very upbeat about this, happiness returning to his green irises that resembled mesmerizing ponds that one could easily drown into.

"But of course."

Francis got out the pink, red, and white icing and Arthur immediately went for the pink.

"Eager, are we?"

"Fuck you."

Francis only smiled as Arthur went at it, trying to prove that he wasn't completely useless, which was pointless because he of course was not useless. Arthur was really getting into it now, adorning the cookies in beautiful swirls and hearts and all other kinds of designs. He managed to get icing on his nose and failed to notice while he was decorating.

"Arthur."  
"Mm."

"You have icing on your nose."

"Then get it off," Arthur said rather snappily.

Francis smirked and leaned forward, placing his left hand on Arthur's right cheek, making him turn slightly.

"What are you—"Arthur cut himself off when Francis leaned in further and softly kissed his nose, thus removing the icing. Francis moved down only slightly, pecking at Arthur's cheeks, placing languid kisses all over his reddened face.

Francis leaned to the side and whispered again into the other's ear and whispered tenderly, "Happy Valentine's Day, Arthur."

"To you as well, you beautiful fool."


End file.
